


Balling in Love

by ticklishpickle



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Ending, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-18 04:50:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15478044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ticklishpickle/pseuds/ticklishpickle
Summary: Dan and Phil are captains of rival soccer teams, and have hated each other for as long as Dan can remember. However, it starts to seem as if Phil is out to win more than just the game…





	Balling in Love

**Author's Note:**

> Read it on tumblr- https://ticklishhpickle.tumblr.com/post/176407392762/balling-in-love

Dan leant forward in a lunge, stretching his leg muscles further than they’d ever stretched before. He needed to be at peak performance if his team was going to win. Dan looked to his left- his best friend and best attacker Jake was stretching too, just like he’d asked him to. Good. 

 

“Hey Dan! Lester’s making fun of us again!” Jake exclaimed, pointing accusingly at the opposite side of the field.

 

Dan scowled. Phil Lester, captain of Greenwich soccer team, was the biggest asshole Dan knew. Phil was taller than Dan - only by a couple centimetres or so, but he made sure to never let Dan forget it. He had silky black hair that was obviously dyed, contrasting heavily with his extraordinarily pale complexion. But the most notable feature by far was his striking blue eyes, that Dan swore should be illegal to have. 

 

Okay, even if he was a complete douchebag, Dan had to admit he was a good-looking one at that.    
  
Dan looked across the field to where his friend was pointing and practically hissed when he took in the sight before him.

 

“I’m Daniel! I think I actually stand a chance against Phil’s team, WOO! Look at me lunge!” Phil cried, in what was probably the worst impression of Dan’s voice he’d ever heard. 

 

He was ‘lunging’ too- if you could even call it that. His legs were stretched out in an extremely exaggerated fashion, while his tongue was sticking out of his mouth, blowing raspberries like an imbecile. 

  
He wasn’t funny. 

 

What he actually was, was an obnoxious, arrogant jackass. Every damn year Dan’s school had been beaten at soccer by Greenwich. It was an embarrassment really - Dan’s team was undefeated apart from that. 

 

Dan had met Phil way too many times for his liking; the other captain seemed to love making Dan’s life a misery. As a result, Phil would often turn up to games he wasn’t even involved in, purely just to taunt and tease Dan in an attempt to psych him out. 

 

Dan could recall one particular game against another school last season, where Phil had spent the  _ entire  _ bloody game staring at Dan. Just smirking. Dan had quickly decided that Phil’s silent staring was much, much worse and more distracting than any jibes he’d spat out before. 

 

At the end of the game he’d had the audacity to  _ wink  _ at Dan, causing his face to flush bright red in anger. Phil had noticed this of course, and taken it in the complete  _ opposite  _ to what it actually meant. 

 

“Like what you see, Daniel?” Phil had said, eyebrows raised and damned smirk still etched onto his stupid face.

 

“Shut up, Phil. My face is just red from the game.” Dan had spat back, face turning impossibly redder. 

 

“Whatever you say, Daniel.” 

 

Before he’d even thought about what he was doing, Dan was throwing the muddy ball out from under his arm at the other boy in rage.  Phil had easily caught the ball in his large hands, blue eyes dancing with mischief. Then he’d licked his lips, winked once again and walked off. 

 

Could you see why Dan hated him so much?

 

“You can tease all you want, Lester, but the game’s ours tonight!” Dan finally replied, rolling his eyes and sticking his tongue out at Phil. 

 

He focused his attention back on his team and called everyone into a huddle. Dan said a few words of encouragement before going into their traditional, albeit a bit lame, pre-game chant.

 

“Let’s go Westwood, let’s go! Let’s go Westwood, let’s go!” Dan started. Jake joined in soon after, and eventually the whole team was chanting at the top of their lungs. 

 

Dan finally broke the huddle, patting each of his teammates on their backs before running out to the field. They were ready.

 

-

This was it. Greenwich and Westwood were tied, with only thirty seconds left on the clock. The ball was being dribbled down the field by the one and only Phil Lester. It actually looked more like weird dancing the way he was doing it, obviously in a failed attempt to be funny. Phil kept looking behind him, making ridiculous faces at Dan they seemed to say ‘Look at me! I’m barely even trying and I’m still beating you!’    
  


_ Well not for long, Lester,  _ Dan thought. 

 

Dan looked to his right - Jake subtly nodded his head in Phil’s direction, before raising his eyebrows at Dan. He knew what he had to do. 

 

Dan sprinted full speed towards Phil, whose back was currently turned away from Dan.    
  
“Hey Lester!” Dan hollered in a sing-song voice, easily catching Phil’s attention. 

 

Phil turned around, and Dan swore he saw blue eyes light up for a second before they narrowed back into thin slits to match his smirk. This was just too easy. 

 

“Come to congratulate me on my win, have you?” Phil jested, continuing to dance-dribble the ball towards the goal. 

 

“No.” Dan smiled evilly, and in one swift movement stole the ball from between Phil’s feet and kicked it sideways into Jake’s waiting feet. Jake gave one mighty kick, and in a second the ball hit the back of Greenwich’s goal. 

 

“But you can congratulate me on mine, if you like.”    
  
Phil’s face went slack, his mouth gaping open like a fish. His eyes kept darting between Dan, Jake and the goal in disbelief. He could stare all he wanted. It wouldn’t change the fact that Westwood had won. For once, it was Dan’s turn to smirk.

 

-

  
  


They’d done it. They’d actually won. Dan couldn’t believe they hadn’t taken advantage of Phil’s cockiness earlier! Dan smiled at the memory of Phil’s shocked face when he’d realised what had happened. Served him right for being a buffoon. 

 

“Hey man, good game again. You’re still coming to mine after, right?” Jake asked, pulling his bag over one shoulder. 

 

“Nah man, I can’t. My mum said I’ve been going out too much and need to study.” Dan replied sorrowfully. He really wanted to go. 

 

It was a tradition for all the teammates to celebrate their wins at someone’s house after a game, which usually ended up being Jake’s. They couldn’t let his indoor spa, plasma TV and gaming room go to waste now could they?

 

“Ah, that sucks. Guess you better go home before your mum cracks it then - don’t let Lester keep you back for too long. I’m sure he’ll want to let his frustrations out on you after this loss, if you know what I mean.” Jake wiggled his ginger eyebrows suggestively. 

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“Oh come on, Phil’s into you, dude. Why do you think he’s always trying to be funny around you, or turning up at basically all our games and making those weird faces at you?” 

 

Dan failed to form an intelligible response to this, instead choking out random syllables. Jake just shook his head and laughed while walking out, leaving Dan alone in the changeroom with thoughts.

 

Jake was being ridiculous, he told himself. There was no way Phil Lester, of all people, liked Dan. No way.

 

Dan repeated this like a mantra in his head for the next few minutes as he packed up his clothes. He was so immersed in this mantra, that he didn’t even notice the other person who’d entered the changeroom until he was walking to the door the person was leaning on.    
  
“You know, I totally let you win out there.” Phil said carelessly, signature smirk on his lips.

 

Great. The last person Dan needed to see right now. What was he doing here? 

 

“You absolutely did not. As if you’d sacrifice the win - why would you put me before you?” Dan replied, now slightly amused at the mere ludicrousness of the idea.

 

Phil didn’t reply for a few moments, seeming to have an internal debate in his head. If Dan didn’t know better he would have thought Phil had flicked his eyes down to Dan’s lips. 

 

Ugh, see what Jake’s stupid comment had done to him?   
  
Just as Dan was about to ask Phil to move out of the way so that he could go home, the boy finally responded.

 

“I would if I liked you.” 

 

Dan’s eyes widened, his heart leaping into his chest before he realised this was  _ Phil _ he was dealing with. As if he was being serious. 

 

“Oh please, as if you like me. You take every opportunity you get to make fun of me.” Dan scoffed. 

 

“Exactly.”   
  


Dan’s brow creased in confusion.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

 

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m always trying to make you laugh, or to get your attention even if I look like a complete idiot in the process.” Phil’s voice had softened and he was averting his gaze. This was the first time Dan had seen him look anything but sure of himself which could only mean...   
  


Oh god.

 

This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. Because if it was happening, Dan would have to acknowledge that when his face went red whenever Phil winked at him, it was actually a  _ blush _ and not just his face reddening in anger. Or when everytime Phil tried to be funny and Dan claimed to hate it, he was laughing inside. Or that he scanned the crowd before every soccer game he played, heart sinking on the days Phil wasn’t there and heart skipping on the days he was. 

 

“Dan. Say something please.” Dan looked at Phil, and was taken aback at what he saw. 

 

Phil looked so vulnerable, like a puppy at the animal shelter that had been abandoned by its owner. His striking blue eyes held a look of fear in them that Dan had never seen before, his hands were wringing together nervously, and for once there were no traces of that damned smirk on his face. 

 

“I-I don’t know what to say.” Dan finally said, internally smacking himself for his terrible reply.  _ Oh god, why couldn’t he just admit it?  _

 

“That’s, um - that’s okay. Just, thanks for not making fun of me, yeah? I probably deserve it after all I’ve put you through.”    
  
Phil smiled sadly and patted Dan on the shoulder before turning to leave. Dan felt like he’d swallowed a rock. He couldn’t leave it like this. 

 

“Wait!” 

 

He slowly turned around, blue eyes shining with a renewed sense of hope. 

 

“Did you really let me win?” 

  
Phil’s face briefly flashed with a look of disappointment, before he slipped back into his jerk persona. 

 

“Well of course, Daniel. How else would you have won against me? I’m only like, a million times better than you.” 

 

Dan cleared his throat. 

 

“Well then prove it. Come home with me and we can 1v1.” 

 

“But we just had a match, Daniel. I’m tired, aren’t you?” The black-haired boy asked, confused.    
  
“Well then we can do um, other things. Talk. Maybe. And uh- play video games. Hang out I guess.” 

“Really?”

Phil’s eyes were happy again, practically radiating joy. He was smiling, a real smile- not a smirk, and in that moment Dan decided he was the most beautiful creature Dan had ever had the privilege of meeting. God, Dan was so fucking gay for him.

“Hell yeah.” Dan replied, holding his hand out for Phil to take. His traitorous cheeks had the audacity to blush when Phil’s soft hand laced with his own. He looked at Phil and saw the most unadulterated expression of happiness he’d ever seen. 

He hoped, in good time that one day he’d be able to admit he felt the same.

**Author's Note:**

> Soccer balls aren't the only kind Dan likes ;))))
> 
> I'll let myself out. 
> 
> Come say hi on tumblr @ticklishhpickle 
> 
> (yes with two h's because someone else got the username before I did rip)


End file.
